Review
The Kill Screen Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Firaxis’ remake of the PC gaming classic lets you fail, and there is beauty in failure.
Yannick Lejacq
Article
Will interactive sex tech replace the human touch?
The new wave of sex toys are well-designed, interactive, and forward-looking. They could also render your best moves obsolete.
Interview
We talked to the guy who is remaking XCOM, finally
A conversation with Enemy Unknown lead designer Jake Solomon.
Review
The Kill Screen Review: Papo y Yo
The new addiction parable Papo y Yo dredges up a painful experience from Yannick LeJacq’s past
Interview
Another World?
Why do videogames value failure more than we do? We talk to philosopher and queer theorist Jack Halberstam about financial failure, the queerness of computer-generated films, and where videogames have yet to change.
Interview
The Sounds of Violence
When did demons get so soft? The sound designer of Diablo III Joseph Lawrence tells us how the squishy sounds of hell came from spaghetti, gunpowder, raw meat, and more.
Review
War Is Hell. Except When It’s Fun.
Spec Ops: The Line promises to challenge us with moral dilemmas. But the game ultimately offers as much critique on a morally decrepit genre, the modern military shooter, as it does the hardships of war.
News
New Mass Effect 3 Endings Don’t Bring Closure
If any videogame developers still doubted the Anonymous adage “the internet is here,” the explosive protest against Mass Effect 3’s ending that brought the legendary BioWare studio to its knees has left them forever humbled. Since its release this past March, the final act of the acclaimed Mass Effe
Essay
Love and Chaos
Since its release in March, Mass Effect 3 has come under fire for everything from its ending to the inclusion of a gay male Commander Shepard. But what really made the game’s fans and critics so upset? In honor of Pride Day, we examine the series’ finale and the complicated sexuality of its protagon
Interview
Are Military Shooters Finally Getting Their Apocalypse Now?
Yager’s military shooter, Spec Ops: The Line, cites Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness as its influences. Can a videogame about shooting make its player feel not just the physical conflict of war, but the moral conflict as well? We talk to the lead designer about the setting and the role of horror
News
Why Diablo III’s bugs are making gamers so angry.
Starting with Valve releasing Steam as a necessary tie-in product to activate Half-Life 2, videogame companies have developed a habit of using titanic releases to push forward new and controversial forms of digital rights management (DRM). Proponents and PR folks both claim that these will ultimatel
Interview
How a Photographer Recovered the Seedy Glory Days of Times Square Arcades.
In 1983, Bill Butterworth began shooting his local arcades in the dangerous, sex-driven halls of Times Square. We talk to Hilton Ruiz about the upcoming book of Butterworth’s photography he discovered and edited, what it’s like to be a child among prostitutes and pimps, and why NBA Jam killed the ar